Category: Blog posts

Southampton in Hampshire is often overlooked as a heritage destination. This is perhaps understandable as it is a large and busy port, with the beautiful cathedral city of Winchester only a short distance away. Yet Southampton is fortunate enough to possess some of the best surviving urban medieval fortifications in England. This was due to …

By 1283 Edward I of England had succeeded in conquering Wales, with the native Welsh dynasty of the house of Gwynedd all but wiped out. Yet the English conquerors were forced to contend with years of rebellions by the Welsh. One of these uprisings was led by Rhys ap Maredudd who took up arms against …

(Stirling Castle) The film Outlaw King begins with a vivid depiction of the siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, a key event in the First Scottish War of Independence. A huge trebuchet is shown throwing a flaming projectile over the walls to smash the defenders into submission. The film uses the surrender of the castle …

Beaumaris Castle Beaumaris Castle in Anglesey was one of the castles built by Edward I after his conquest of Wales in the late thirteenth century. Construction work began in early 1295 with many hundreds of men employed on the project and huge quantities of stone, timber and other supplies sent to the site. Over the …

For a time in the early fifteenth century it seemed a real possibility that the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr would succeed in fully driving the English out of Wales and would realise his ambition to be Prince of Wales. The failure of his rebellion was due in large part to the success of beleaguered …